Houston shook off an inconsistent regular season and rode an eight-game winning streak into the American Athletic Conference tournament championship game, which it lost 9-1 to East Carolina. … This is the Cougars’ first time hosting regional since 2000, and the back-to-back 40-win seasons are the first since 1999-2000. … The Cougars’ 2.99 team ERA is 17th in the country. … Closer Seth Romero has seven saves and seven wins in 21 appearances with a 2.15 ERA. … Though they only bat .271 as a team, five Cougars hit between .300 and .310, led by Chris Iriart’s 14 home runs and 13 doubles.

HOUSTON BAPTIST

Making its first NCAA tournament appearance, the Huskies rode four straight complete games to win the Southland Conference tournament. … In the four complete games, tossed by Matthew McCollough, Taylor Wright, Ross Kennell and Curtis Jones, the quartet combined to give up only one earned run and strike out 21 hitters … Zach Nehrir slugs .479 and leads the team with 43 RBIs. He is one of six regulars to hit above .300 … Samm Wiggins, who is batting .325, has reached base safely in 19 consecutive games.